Watching the Wheels
by PheonixPrism
Summary: When Charlie Jones life gets flipped around by a random act of magic he is exiled from his life. Wandering London the night before his 11th birthday he finds the Leaky Cauldron. What he is told inside flips his whole world around. He soon becomes friends with Albus, Rose and Scorpius and when he finally gets to Hogwarts, he introduces it to skateboarding. Rated T for language.
1. The Leaky Cauldron

**Watching the Wheels**

Disclaimer: In no way whatsoever do I own Harry Potter. This is my first fanfiction so please please please review; I would like some feedback and ideas on where to progress the story. I TAKE ALL IDEAS INTO ACCOUNT EVEN IF I DO NOT USE THEM SO PLEASE TYPE AWAY. Tom :D

I had always thought that my life was like a puzzle and one day all the pieces would finally slot together. At that moment I knew I would find myself and for years I waited for it. Finally it came, in the shape and form of Minerva McGonagall on my 11th birthday. That was the day that everything changed.

I had been out skating with my friends during the day, touring the south banks of London and trying to rack tricks at every spot we came across. Having been unable to commit myself to catch the board jumping over the handrail for the hundredth time, a dam broke inside my head and all the rage that I had bottled up inside was let loose. A blast of energy seemed to come from me and my skateboard spontaneously combusted before the eyes of me and my friends. Brand new deck. Mint condition. MY WHOLE LIVELIHOOD. Up in flames within the blink of an eye. When I finally get over the pure shock of what has just happened I observe my mates reactions.

"Oh shit son! Did you just see that? He just shot lasers from his eyes!" My friend Johnny screamed taking a step back. As I begin to recover from the shock I look up and realize the enormous pile of crap I have just got myself into. 30 seconds ago these people were my best mates but now their expressions are hostile and worried. I am abnormal. I don't belong here.

Grabbing my bag I dash along the riverbank, my reflection bouncing along beside me in the water. I will not stop running until I am safe and away from here. I can't go home though, Johnny the blabbermouth will have texted everyone he knows about my 'incident' and in two hours I will be infamous. My current guardians are deeply religious and any sign that I am abnormal I will be living on the streets. I'm not going to lie and pretend that weird things haven't happened before, that was probably the reason my parents left me as a baby and I got shunted around the foster circuit for years. However, they usually happened when I was alone and so I didn't often get in trouble for it. I was finally happy though with my latest guardians, as eccentric as they were. Although they obviously didn't love me and I would surely be disowned if they found out about my accidents, they were wealthy so I lived in comfort. Unfortunately that wealth didn't extend to my passion for skating, they shunned it and made me pay for decks, trucks, wheels and bus fares with the money I made doing housework. So now, here I was, stranded in London with tomorrow being my 11th birthday and only the clothes on my back, 3 pounds and a football as company.

I ended up walking along Charing Cross Rd for somewhere that would take me overnight. Every pub, crummy hotel or hostel was either full up or out of my budget. Spying a manky looking pub across the road named the Leaky Cauldron I was sure I had hit the jackpot for somewhere to stay. A chubby, blond woman greeted me from across the counter.

"Hello dear, you look a bit too young to be wandering the streets of London at night?" She smiled kindly.

"I know, I just had a really bad incident and I need somewhere to stay tonight, I only have three pounds for a room though." I asked nervously.

"Pounds? They are the muggle currency aren't they?" She looked at me confused.

"Muggle?" I questioned, "Is that a country?"

"Oh dear! I think I have made a terrible mistake, I need to talk to a friend otherwise we might have an extremely sticky situation."

"Minerva" she called to an elderly lady in a green cloak who was perched at the bar. "Come over here, I think we might have a muggleborn"

It was at that moment I noticed the peculiar attire of everyone around me, both men and woman were wearing full length robes and pointed hats like some kind of wizard film, I wondered if there was a function going on for a gaming convention or something but I let the issue slide as way more important issues still had to be resolved.

The woman that the barmaid had addressed as Minerva now walked over to me with a narrow smile.

"If I told you that you were a wizard right now would you believe me." She asked, a slight grin playing at the corners of her tight mouth.

"No, I would tell you that you have gone completely insane." I replied, growing increasingly worried.

"Lets start from the beginning then dear, what is your name?"

"Charlie, Charlie Jones" I answered feeling scared.

"Now tell me Charlie, have you ever done unusual things when you have been angry or frustrated. These are extreme things, things out of the ordinary."

"How did you know?" My façade of calm had begun to crumble at that statement and the slight worry I had felt prior had blown up to a full on fear. "That is why I am here today. I was feeling unbelievably angry and I set fire to my skateboard."

"Well then Charlie, do you live with your parents or are you under the care of another sort of guardian?" That tight expression she wore at the start of this meeting had faded and underneath she looked warmer and kinder.

"My parents left me when I was only a few months old, between then and now I have been shunted around foster homes, never staying anywhere for a long stretch because of my accidents. After the one today I don't have a home because my current guardians are rigid to say the least."

"I see, well Charlie have something quite shocking to tell you and I know this may be difficult to process and I will give you a few minutes if you need but the thing is, you are a wizard."

Everything went numb. I was in total shock. The puzzle was finally together. I just had one question.

"Prove it" I demanded. "Please prove that magic exists and that I don't have to go back to my other life."

Without further ado, she grabbed a glass of water, pulled out a wooden stick from her cloak and waved it. The water froze instantaneously. Suddenly I was flooded with questions.

"Is that a wand? Can I have one? Will you teach me to do that? Are there lots of people who can do magic? Is there a school we go to? Finally, what is a muggle?" I said gasping for breath by that last one.

"Yes, soon, I teach another subject, 100,000 around the world, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry, someone who cannot perform magic." She responded calmly with a slightly bored tone as if she got asked these questions every day.

Suddenly, my day had gone from a place lower than the depths of hell to a place higher than heaven itself. I was bursting with excitement; I finally had a purpose and a place. I was a wizard!

"I will get Hannah to fix you a bed for the night and tomorrow we will talk about Hogwarts. Get some sleep, I will see you in the morning." Suddenly with a loud pop and a swish of her cloak she disappeared on the spot.

"That was awesome!" I exclaimed and I heard the blond woman chuckle softly behind me.

"Come on Charlie, let's get you to bed. We will have a long day tomorrow!"

As I walked up the stairs I thought about my life and realized how excited it suddenly seemed. Hannah led me to my room and closed the door as I flopped down onto the comfortable four poster bed.


	2. Magic

When I woke up in the morning, it took a few seconds to remember where I was and what I was doing but as the realization hit me a grin began to spread across my face. I had a place in the world. Chucking on a pair of tatty chinos and my favorite t-shirt, a rainbow tie-dye, I laced up my vans and headed downstairs to the Leaky Cauldron's pub area. Hannah was again working behind the bar taking orders for people wanting breakfast. After seeing me she rushed over with a plate full to the brim with eggs, toast, bacon and a bottle labeled Butterbeer. I thanked her and sat down at the small corner table to eat my breakfast. The food was extremely tasty but when I cracked open the Butterbeer and let the liquid pour down my throat it was like pure bliss. Sweet and mellow I had never tasted anything quite as delicious in my life.

A loud crack pierced the air and I was snapped out of my dreamlike state. The lady named Minerva appeared out of thin air just as she had disappeared last night.

"Good morning Charlie" She addressed me in her formal tone. "Today I am going to try and explain magic to you and then if we have enough time we can meet with the goblins and discuss finances."

"Goblins? You guys have goblins? Do you have dragons? Dragons are gnarly!"

"Yes we do have dragons; we also have unicorns and fairies as well as many other creatures which you will learn about in your third year at Hogwarts if you decide to take care of magical creatures as a class. However, we should get down to business as although you seem content with the current situation there are a number of issues that need to be resolved. Witches and Wizards have been around for a long time, living secretly, and hiding from the non-magical folk who we refer to as muggles. The only muggles that find out about our existence are the parents of muggle-born witches or wizards like you and a select few in powerful positions such as the prime minister and the monarch."

"But how are we kept secret?" I questioned. "It must be a mammoth job to keep a hundred thousand people, let alone all the magical creatures you just talked about hidden from the rest of the world."

"We have a few effective methods used to keep us secret. With magic we can hide certain pieces of land or buildings so that muggles cannot find them and at the Ministry of Magic there is a trained team of Obliviators whose job it is to remove any memory a muggle may have where magic is involved."

I was overwhelmed by this all! There was a Ministry of Magic that controlled this world I had found myself in? You could remove certain memories with a mere flick of a wand? Uncertainty began to creep in again, what if I decided I didn't want to be a wizard after all? What would happen? Once again redirecting these thoughts to a different part of my brain, I refocused on her next topic of interest.

"The next thing we should talk about is you." She sighed. "Although I would usually want to tell the guardians of a magical child about their kid's talent, with your guardians I am not so sure. Last night I went to visit them, telling them that you had been accepted into a prestigious academy and that you needed to go right now. They were very angry and told me to go away, mind my own business and never come back to bother them again. They didn't even seem the slightest bit worried about you and for these reasons I think it would be more appropriate if you stay here at the Leaky Cauldron over the holidays. Of course this only applies if you choose to accept a place at Hogwarts. If not, we will remove all memories of you having been here and we will seal off all your magical abilities so you can live out your life as a muggle. I do not recommend this option because although this may seem insensitive of me, your guardians had little regard for you and your future and even if we tape your powers off, we cannot guarantee that you won't have little leaks where magic gets shot out of you, very similar to your outburst yesterday which brought you into this world. However, if you choose to accept magic as a part of your life, you will have solid and reliable accommodation, an excellent education and financial backing until you come of age. Before you make your choice, I think it is fitting that I tell you a little about Hogwarts, seeing as I am the headmistress. Hogwarts is a school of magic for children aged 11 to 18. It is situated in Scotland and to access it you will catch the Hogwarts Express on September the 1st at 12:00 am. Hogwarts was founded more than a thousand years ago by four very skilled witches and wizards with their own specific traits. They were: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin and each of them has their own house. When at Hogwarts you will be sorted into one of these houses and then they will become your life. You will sleep in your house dormitory, relax in your house common room, eat at your house table and take lessons with your housemates. You will work to earn house points which count towards the house cup and any rule breaking will get those points taken away. There is also Quidditch. Quidditch is a popular wizarding sport played on broomsticks and each house has a team that competes for the Quidditch Cup annually. If you need any more information feel free to talk to Hannah or any of the other patrons of the Leaky Cauldron. On a more serious note though, have you made up your mind about becoming a wizard?"

"Let me see? Should I go back to a nutty family that doesn't even love me and try and rebuild friendships with people that are scared of me or should I go with you and have the most amazing experience of my life. The one thing that will set this decision in stone though is this one question: Can I bring my skateboard to Hogwarts?"

She was openly laughing by this point and her response sealed the deal as far as I was concerned. "Of course you can, I am sure that our muggle studies Professor Mr. Thomas would love that as long as you could give him a demonstration of your abilities."

"You bet I can!" I exclaimed.

"We are on to our last part of the introduction so I guess it is time to touch on the most serious matter in the wizarding world, the war. My account will only be brief as it is one of the first things you will cover in your History of Magic class but here it is: In the 1950's a boy named Tom Riddle came to study at Hogwarts. He was a top student and received highest honors when he graduated. However, underneath the scholar schoolboy there was a dark wizard who recruited followers he called the 'Death Eaters' to join his cause. He changed his name to Lord Voldemort and began his destruction of the wizarding world. However this all came to a close on the 31st of October 1981 when he tried to murder the Potters. The Potters were exceptionally talented wizards who fought on the side of the resistance against Voldemort in an army known as the Order of the Phoenix. He saw them as threats due to a prophecy overheard by one of his followers concerning the Potter's son Harry. He came to their village, Godrics Hollow and proceeded to murder Lily and James Potter. However, when he tried to kill the 1 year old Harry, his curse rebounded and he was nearly destroyed. He fled the country to Albania and all was well in the wizarding world until 10 years later when Voldemort possessed a man named Quirrel who was a Professor at Hogwarts and he tried to steal a stone of immortality known as the philosopher's stone. Harry, who was 11 at the time, thwarted the plans of Lord Voldemort and Quirrel was killed. When Harry was in his fourth year however, Voldemort did return to a body that was his own and in secret he built up his armies. All through Harry's fifth year the Ministry refused to believe that he had returned despite a seemingly giant pile of evidence that was pointing towards it. At the end of Harry's fifth year, there was a battle at the Ministry between the members of the Order of the Pheonix and the Death Eaters and Voldemort showed up at the very same time as the Minister of Magic who then was a doddery old fool named Cornelius Fudge. When the world realized that Harry had been telling the truth there was pandemonium and battles were fought constantly for the next two years. It all came to an end in 1998 at the battle of Hogwarts where Harry, a 17 year old boy managed to slay the most powerful dark wizard of all time by once again getting his curse deflected off him and back at Lord Voldemort. The reason I am telling you this is because there were many casualties at the battle and many lives torn apart so many children at Hogwarts will have lost family members and I ask you to be sensitive about this. The other reason is that Harry Potter's second child Albus is starting at Hogwarts this year and as his dad is the most famous man in the wizarding world he will be getting a lot of attention. Now if you see a young boy getting hounded then you will understand the reasons behind it."

To put it frankly, I was speechless. A 17 year old boy defeating an uber powerful wizard? That's gnarly!

"Now that we have that behind us we can see about getting your school supplies for this year sorted. Let's go!" Suddenly the serious and somber woman that had stood in front of me only moments before was replaced by a lighter and cheerier one. I couldn't help but wonder what had gone on in these last 19 years.

As we strolled out the back exit of the pub we came upon a red brick wall blocking of the rest alley. Minerva pulled out her wand and tapped a certain brick. Suddenly the whole wall shook and the bricks began to fly around, forming an archway.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley" she proclaimed, a smile twinkling in her eyes. I was amazed. Before me stood a cobbled street weaving a mazy path through suburban London as far as the eye could see. On both sides of me shops rose multiple stories up with signs dangling over the footpath. 'Eyelops Owl Emporium' and 'Quality Quidditch Supplies' were the two first that sprung up at me but I soon became transfixed by a splendid white marble building named 'Gringotts' which dominated the whole street with it's sparkling beauty.

"That is the bank Charlie, where we can deal with the goblins to sort out your finances for the next seven years."

"Gnarly!" Was my reply to that statement as I'm pretty sure my mind was still running overload on all the new things I had seen today.

As we strolled through the foyer, someone who I can only presume was a goblin came and greeted us.

"Good morning Minerva, who is your companion today?" The goblin inquired.

"Good morning to you Varduk. This is Charlie Jones, a muggle born student who has been exiled from his guardian's home due to his magical ability." She replied, her nostrils flaring at the last statement.

"Pleased to meet you Charlie" He inclined his head in greeting towards me. "I am Varduk and I will be overseeing your finances till you are 17 on request of Minerva here. Let us go and discuss in more depth your financial status" he said, leading the way to a private room.

"19 years ago, a wizard named Harry Potter used his considerable inheritance to set up a fund for students attending Hogwarts that had little or no money." Varduk began to explain.

"Harry Potter? Isn't he the one that defeated Lord Voldemort when he was 17?"

"Yes Charlie, he is. What people don't tend to know is that Harry Potter was an orphan and a victim of child abuse whilst growing up. If he didn't have his father's estate to help him buy schoolbooks, he likely wouldn't have been able to attend Hogwarts. However, he found a home in his school and to repay the wizarding community he set up this fund. You will get 200 galleons a year to spend on your schoolbooks, robes and other apparatus and you will never be required to pay it back. Any money that you don't spend you can put it in the bank and earn interest on it."

"Um excuse me sir but what exactly are galleons?"

"Oh dear me I am sorry. Galleons, sickles and knuts are what we use instead of the muggle pounds and pence. 200 galleons converts to 1000 pounds."

Again, the wizarding world had managed to completely blow me off my feet. 1000 pounds? Seven years? That makes 7000 pounds. I had to thank this Harry Potter guy someday!


	3. The Wand

With the meeting over and the first 200 galleons in my bag, me and Minerva went to get my school supplies. First we brought my booklist from a harried looking assistant in a shop called Flourish and Blotts who was complaining about a book for a subject called 'divination' and how if you wanted to buy it you had to predict it's position. As we rushed outside we heard him mumble something along it being the 'Monster Book of Monsters' all over again. Ridiculous!

Next we went to buy my school robes from Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. As I was getting pinned up, the boy in the cubicle next to me began to start a conversation about Hogwarts.

"Hi, are you starting Hogwarts as well this year?" He had a soft and somewhat melodic voice which I immediately felt compelled to reply to.

"Yeah, I am a muggle born student so I only found out yesterday. This nice old lady called Minerva explained all about the wizarding and how this man named Harry Potter set up a trust which will help me afford all my books. Magic looks so cool and I'm desperate to try it."

"Well I guess it's time I introduced myself seeing as you have already brought up my godmother AND my father. I'm Albus Potter but please refer to me as Al. Call me Albus and I will curse you till your nose falls off. He giggled.

"I'm Charlie, Charlie Jones. It's kind of cool to meet somebody who is actually part of the wizarding world and around my own age. So far the only magic people I have encountered are grownup so they have a completely different picture about how Hogwarts works.

"I know how you feel. All dad's tales are about fighting Voldemort so hypothetically my whole schooling experience will be spent either in the battlefield or the hospital wing. My older brother James hasn't helped either. He told me that the house sorting involves a series of challenges and an excruciatingly painful medical examination. I think he is lying but I can't be sure because mum or dad wouldn't say anything."

Just then I heard a voice calling out to him. It sounded like a woman, not ancient but definitely not a kid.

"Oops, mum is calling me, I better hurry. When September 1st comes around, meet me before the train leaves and we can find a compartment or something. Just look for the enormous pile of redheads, I will be around that area. Also, don't refer to Minerva by her first name. Call her Professor McGonagall otherwise many a detention will be served" He finished in a sarcastic tone.

"See you in a week" he said as he strolled of to be greeted by a redheaded woman.

"Good fit darling, these robes are perfect for you" called Madam Malkin dragging my attention back to the inside of the shop. I paid for them and walked back outside to be once again greeted by Minerva. As I said that to myself I realized I needed to address her as Professor McGonagall because being on first name terms with your headmistress just seemed odd.

"Hey Professor, I met your godson in the shop, he seemed really cool." I called out to her brightly.

"Yes Albus, he is a lovely boy. Trust me Charlie, that is a good person to have as your first friend in this world."

As we continued getting the rest of my supplies I mulled those words over in my head. Was he a friend? He invited me to sit with him on the train, which seemed pretty cool. I guess I would consider him as a friend. Didn't he have a famous dad though? Wouldn't everyone want to be his friend? I was snapped out of my monologue by Professor McGonagall again.

"Hello Charlie, is anybody in there?"

"Oh I'm really sorry, I was just having a conversation with myself" I laughed.

"Well I'm glad your back to normal now, we are down to your last item. Your wand."

As we walked into Ollivanders wand shop a faint bell rang, like running water over river stones. Out of the shadows a wizened old man appeared greeting both me and the professor in turn. His pale eyes seemed to bore into my soul and examine it's character.

"Are you getting your first wand?" he asked me, his face only inches from mine and I nodded in an uncomfortable manner. In a flash he whipped down a box from the upper shelves and presented a wand to me.

"Unicorn hair and silver lime, 12 inches" he proclaimed and feeling unbelievably stupid I waved the wand. Nothing happened. He snatched it out of my hand and gave me another one.

"Dragon heartstring and maple, 11 inches" he said. When I waved it, nothing happened. Again and again I tried to get a result but nothing happened. I must have gone through 20 wands by the time he pulled out the one.

"I fear to let you try this because the last man to wield a wand of these characteristics was a man known as lord Voldemort. This wand is phoenix tail feather and yew, 13 inches" he uttered with a shudder. I was terrified to try it but thinking that it would probably be a failure, just like the other ones I grabbed it and gave it a wave. Suddenly beautiful sparks began to fly out of the tip, all the colors of the rainbow.

"Ollivander and Professor McGonagall looked shocked. I look shocked. I felt shocked. Was this wand really so similar to the one used by Voldemort.

"7 galleons please Mr. Jones. There is no going back now. After all, the wand chooses the wizard."


	4. Dinner with The Potters

I remember rushing back to the Leaky Cauldron and up to the room I was staying in, despite a distraught Hannah trying to get me to talk to her. I dumped all my books and equipment and just climbed under my covers. After A while I felt a soft hand reach down and pull them off me.

"Minerva told me about your wand. When she said it I thought about something Harry once told me."

"Harry Potter?"

"Yes sweetie, Harry Potter. It was a long time ago now, but it went something like this: We have both light and dark inside us but it is the choices we make that define who we really are. Maybe your wand has similar characteristics to Voldemort's but it really does not matter one tiny bit because as long as you make the right choices, you don't have to worry about going down his road. It is in here that matters, not here" she concluded pointing to her heart then her hand.

"Go outside and buy yourself something, I know this can be a traumatic experience and you deserve a present!"

"Oh my god! I just remembered it's my birthday!" I said, suddenly way happier than I was two minutes ago. All the things that happened today had just pushed that aside.

"Well go outside and buy yourself a present then! It's a beautiful day and the shops will still be open for a few more hours. I recommend getting an owl. They are really useful and loyal. They make fantastic pets."

I strolled out the pub and tried to visualize the brick McGonagall had tapped with her wand. After my third attempt I got the right one and the bricks once again spun out to form the archway. Magic never ceases to amaze me!

I took Hannah's advice and went to check out Eyelops. Inside I found a beautiful golden screech owl which I immediately took a liking to. When I went to pay my 10 galleons the lady smiled and asked me what I was going to name him.

"I think he will either be called Carlin or Herman" I responded.

"Are there any reasons you chose those names?" she inquired.

"Yeah, Jimmy Carlin and Bryan Herman are my two favorite skateboarders."

"Skateboards? Aren't they those things that muggle teenagers stand on a ride around?"

"Yeah, I am one of those teens. My board got destroyed yesterday though and I don't know where in the wizarding world I could buy another."

"If you walk past Gringotts and turn left, you will reach a small alley called Vertic Alley. Go down there and at the end there is a shop run by an eccentric man that sells muggle products. It is not much but it's worth a try."

I thanked her for her advice, grabbed my new owl who I had decided to name Herman, and started to walk towards this shop. When I reached the decrepit old building and walked inside I was consumed by the musty atmosphere it had. A voice seemed to reach out of the gloom.

"Hello young one. What are you looking for?" It croaked out.

"Um… Do you have any skateboards?" I questioned back.

"It is a curious thing you asked for my boy as until this morning I have never stocked one of those muggle contraptions. Seeing as these two events are so closely linked in time, I can presume it is but fate that you are here. Would you like to see the board?"

"Yes please" I answered back eagerly.

A hand came through the dust and placed the board beside me. It was a Deathwish deck, Thunder trucks, Bones STF wheels and Abec 7's. In other words, a perfect board for my raw style of skating. It was a bit battered, the deck had some scratches and the trucks had obviously been used extensively but nothing could deter me from the joy of finally having the chance to get a new board.

"How much do you want sir?"

"Oh please take it free. I dare not offset the wheels of fate!"

"Thank you so much! I really appreciate it."

"You are very welcome my friend. Off you go now and have some fun on that contraption of yours!"

I eagerly obeyed his request as I grabbed my board and headed out of the gloomy shop to the sun drenched cobblestone of Diagon Alley. As I walked into the pub Hannah came over and looked surprised.

"Is that what a skateboard looks like? Where did you get it?" she inquired.

"Yes that is a skateboard and a funny old shopkeeper on Vertic Alley gave it to me. The owl however, cost me 10 galleons but he is beautiful."

"He is indeed." She agreed before continuing her examination of the skateboard.

"We have a courtyard area you will be able to practice your skateboarding if you want Charlie, just head through that door over there" she said, pointing to a small door hidden behind a pillar.

"Just don't be surprised if I come out when the after work rush dies down to see your skills" she added with a grin.

"Actually wait a minute Hannah. There isn't a spell you could put on this so it won't break by any chance?"

"As a matter of fact there is Charlie." She lay my skateboard on the bench and pointed her wand at it, saying some words I couldn't quite make out. An electric blue line seemed to run around the outside of it before it returned to normal.

"There we are, that shouldn't break at all now."

Giving my thanks, I rushed up to my room and put Herman in his cage with some of the owl food the shopkeeper had given me before racing back down and out to the small but smooth courtyard. I got a feel for the board by riding around the area a few times and doing some small powerslides across the slippery surface. When I went to pop my first ollie, I kicked down with all the force my left foot could muster and scraped my right one at 45 degree angle across the grip tape. When I popped the board it must have come a foot and a half in the air. My right foot extended and a brought the left one up onto my body whilst they were still holding the board. I evened the balance so the tail was brought down flat with the nose and waited for the impact of the ground. When it came, a bent my knees to absorb the little impact and rolled away smoothly. I had never managed to get such a good ollie on a new board and I wondered if it had a special spell cast on it. I should definitely ask Hannah if there is, because I charmed board would be gnarly!

I went around and finished all my warm-up tricks. Tre flip, hard flip, nollie flip and my all time favourite move: Inward heel. I had never felt s comfortable with a board before. It felled like it was glued to me and when I flicked, it didn't over spin or under spin but just stayed in perfect harmony with my feet. It was the nicest board I had ever ridden. I kept this up for a few minutes before I saw Hannah watching from the doorway.

"Very impressive Charlie! I'm sure my youngest child Frank would be enthralled by this sport. Speaking of my family, would you like to come and have dinner up in our apartment tonight. My husband is home from work until term starts again because he is the herbology professor at Hogwarts and the plants need 24 hour care, but he has managed to convince a good friend to look after them for the week. The Potters will also be here as they are family friends and as Minerva mentioned that you and Al had begun to develop a friendship, I thought you might like to come along?"

"I would love to Hannah. Thank you so much." I replied.

"Ok, I will see you at 7 pm sharp." She laughed.

"I will let you get back to your new toy. Go, have a bit of fun."

I rode my board a little bit more but it started to get dark so I packed it in and headed up to my room to get changed. I was feeling worried because I was about to have dinner with someone famous and all my clothes were a bit tatty. In the end I decided to just change my tie-dye for a plain black one that I kept in my bag and flatten my hair so it didn't look like a great birds nest."

I made my way up to the third story and I knocked on a door that had a sign saying it was the Longbottom Residence. Hannah opened it and welcomed me into what appeared to be a cosy apartment. Albus and four other children were sitting in the living room playing a game of snap.

"Hey everyone, this is Charlie Jones and he is the muggleborn student that is going to be staying at the Leaky Cauldron over the summers for the next seven years." She explained to them. Al stood up and walked over to give me a high five.

"Hey Charlie, long time no see. Come play exploding snap with us.'

"Exploding snap? That sounds pretty crazy. I'm in!" I replied. When I had sat down on the carpet with all the others they each introduced themselves in turn.

"I'm James, Al's owner." The older looking boy with messy, dark hair greeted me with a fist bump, laughing.

"Hey, I guess Hannah already said but I'm Charlie."

The pretty girl who had blond coloured hair greeted me next.

"Hey Charlie I'm Alice, Hannah and Neville's daughter." She smiled.

"I'm Lily, Al and James's sister. This is Frank, the shy one out of our group." the girl with waist long red her bubbled excitedly, pointing to a shy looking boy sitting in the corner.

"Hi Lily, Hi Frank" I replied to the two. Lily threw me a dazzling smile but Frank just looked up and nodded indifferently.

"So how do you play exploding snap?" I asked.

"Well basically it's just normal snap but the cards explode, hence the name 'exploding snap' James answered with a grin.

"Sounds cool!"

We ended up playing for over an hour while all the adults talked about work and other issues. The game was getting a bit stale and everyone knew it so they tried to teach me the rules of Quidditch.

"There are seven players on each team. The three chasers try to throw a bright red ball called the quaffle through one of the three rings at the other end. The keeper tries to guard his rings and the beaters fly around with bats trying to hit iron balls at the other team. Finally, the seeker tries to catch an ultra fast and miniscule ball called the snitch while the game goes on around them. Each goal is worth 10 points and catching the snitch is worth 150 points. The game ends when the snitch is caught." Alice explained patiently."

"What if nobody can catch the snitch?" I puzzled.

"The game goes on until somebody does. The longest game ever lasted three months."

"Three months! In the muggle world, football games last 90 minutes and rugby games 80 minutes. Not three months!"

"That is an exceptionally rare occurrence. Last year the Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin game was the longest the whole year and that was only six hours." James reassured me.

"Still, six hours is a long time to sit on your arse, broomstick or grandstand." I argued.

"Thankfully I was neither at the first or latter position. My cousin Freddy and I had just pulled off a massive prank but McGonagall caught us and we were cleaning the schools cauldrons." James grimaced.

"How do you fly though? Do the broomsticks have charms that enable them to fly?" I questioned.

"I will give you a book I have called Quidditch through the Ages. It explains all the Quidditch rules and has lots of cool facts but the answer to your question is yes. It's just a simple flying charm. We do it in our fourth year at Hogwarts." Al told me in his quiet and soft voice.

"Could you put this charm on anything else because I love to skateboard but I reckon it would be amazing to put this charm on my skateboard so I can fly around on it." I questioned."

"Do you skate Charlie? When Freddy and I were nine or 1o we had this muggle friend who skated so we got into it for a while, he even showed us some videos of this guy called Bryan Herman on those muggle contraptions with the moving pictures. He was really good, made it look so smooth! You should totally start up a skating club at Hogwarts, get professor Thomas to help and kids can sign up for extra muggle studies credits. I mean, witches and wizards have been flying around brooms for hundreds of years…"

"You know Herman? He is my absolute favourite skater! Do you think wizards would take to the idea of skating? I mean I'm totally new his whole thing and I don't want to give the impression that I own the place!"

"Of course they will! Fred and I loved it. We even managed to learn that trick which gets the board in the air, an ollie or something?" James inquired. "Do you have a board with you Charlie? We could go down to the courtyard and have a go. I haven't tried it for years!"

"I'm keen!" I replied enthusiastically.

Lily looked like she was bursting with excitement. Al and Alice seemed mildly interested and nodded their heads with small smiles and Frank just sat and did nothing. In the end it was Lily that convinced him.

"Come on Frank! It might be fun. You will never know if you don't try." She told him.

"Ok, but if we get into trouble it's your fault."

"I will take 100% of the blame. Let's go!" Lily reassured him with her dazzling smile.

We snuck out of the Longbottom's apartment and raced downstairs to get my skateboard. When we reached the door I tried to turn the handle but it was locked. Turning around in dismay I checked to see if anyone else had a solution. Alice shot me a sly look and produced an old key from her pocket.

"You honestly think I hadn't though of that Charlie? God you are an idiot!" She exclaimed, strolling through the door into the lit area.

I dropped the skateboard to the ground and stood on it, rolling backwards and forwards slightly.

"So show us a move Charlie" Lily bounced up and down.

I rolled a couple of metres forward and hanging my toe of the edge of the deck I popped an inward heelflip.

"That is so cool!" exclaimed James. "The guy we used to ride with could never do stuff like that. All he did was make it rotate under his feet, not flip it as well."

For the next half an hour we all took turns riding round the courtyard, everyone at varying degrees of skill. James was the most confident skater, spinning around on the back wheels with ease. A surprise second was Frank, who after the initial refusal to ride it, managed to get persuaded by Lily to give it a go. After a shaky start he began to show some real talent and had a great sense of balance. Al was obviously trying to be fearless in front of James but you could see he was a bit nervous, he was riding along ok but anything more complicated and he jumped off. Lily and Alice were having the most fun, taking turns at pushing each other along with wild grins on their faces. After a while Albus called out to them.

"We should head back inside people, dinner is going to be ready pretty soon." He announced, smiling. I ran back to my room and deposited my board under the bed before joining them again outside their apartment.

The adults didn't notice our absence as we sat down at the table and began to eat the dinner. There was a mountain of food: chicken salads, spaghetti marinara, steaks and a vegetarian quiche which Albus and Alice seemed to dominate.

"Those two nut bags are vegetarians" James whispered to me. "Why would anyone deprive their body of the holy steak?"

"James!" snapped his mother sternly. "No more insulting your brother at the dinner table! Or Alice for that matter" she added a second later.

"Yeah yeah, sorry mum. Not my fault all Slytherins are weird!"

"Stop teasing your brother James, it doesn't matter what house he gets into at Hogwarts."

As I sat at the table, just letting the conversation pass over me I began to think about these last 24 hours and how much my life had changed. It seemed weird to me that everyone I had met in this world was so friendly. Even though James teased Al relentlessly, you could still see the brotherly love under the whole image.

"So Charlie" Al and James' mum Ginny announced, snapping me out of my reverie.

"We haven't really introduced ourselves properly to you. I am Ginny, and this is my husband Harry. I am guessing you already know the little nightmares by now?" She laughed.

Harry nodded his greetings as well with a warm smile and a flash in those emerald eyes of his.

"Thank you so much sir. That trust fund will help me out with my books immensely, I really appreciate it."

"It's ok Charlie, I know what it was like to grow up without parents and my godfather's inheritance left me pretty well off so I figured I might as well do what I can to stop others going through the same thing as I did."

Harry and I ended up having a long conversation about Hogwarts, with him teaching me about all the houses, subjects, and some of the more obscure rules that the ancient caretaker Filch mercilessly enforced.

It was nearing 10 pm and the dinner was beginning to wind down. By that time I felt like I knew infinitely more about the magical world which I was becoming a part of and had also begun to make some good friends. By the time I had thanked Neville and Hannah for their hospitality, said goodbye to the Potters and made my way to my room, I collapsed on my bed fully clothed and completely worn out.


	5. The Alley

Authors Note: Chapter 5! Thats 5 more than I thought I would write ahahaha. If anyone has any ideas for the story PLEASE TELL ME THROUGH A REVIEW OR A PM. Even if you don't have any ideas and just want to say you like it or don't like it PLEASE REVIEW. I love you all. Well most of you.

Disclaimer: I am a lazy author and am not going to do this every chapter but every 5 shall suffice: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, because then I would be very very rich mwuahahahahahahahahahahaha. But I don't :(

The next day was spent relaxing and exploring Diagon Alley. I woke up in the morning around eight to one of Hannah's amazing breakfasts and then went back up to my room for a couple of hours to read some of the books on magic I had. I had always had a soft spot for books, even when all the friends I skated with called me a book worm who needed to grow up. I loved all the fantasy novels like Narnia and The Chronicles of Pyradain when I was younger but after a while I grew into History texts, enthralled by the likes of Rome and Ancient Egypt.

"A History of Magic" by Bathilda Bagshot really grabbed my attention as I spent nearly the whole day learning about magic. From it's origins to the age of Merlin, to the goblin rebellions of the 14th century, to the two wizarding wars, I was sucked into this interesting world that I was now a part of.

Midway through the afternoon I was disturbed by a knock to the door.

"Are you in there Charlie?" Hannah called out from the corridor.

"Yeah, I have just been reading A History of Magic" I replied, embarrassed.

"I never picked you out as a reader to be honest Charlie" said Hannah, sounding surprised.

"I love reading!" I exclaimed. "And A History of Magic is a really interesting book to be honest. Especially when all this is new to you."

"Fair enough Charlie, fair enough. I was just going to say that it is really nice outside and Florean's ice creams are amazing, as is his knowledge of wizarding history and I thought you might like to get some fresh air." replied Hannah.

"I might actually. There is only so many years of history you can cover in one day" I said laughing as I put my books back in my trunk and cleaned myself up.

"I also need to but some more clothes, as these are the only ones I have apart from my robes." I said, looking down at my shabby attire.

"Have fun Charlie. I will just be in the kitchen if you need some help." Hannah's receding voice called out.

Florean's ice cream was amazing as Hannah described, I found out after buying a triple chocolate sundae that filled my up so much that I probably would even have to eat again until Sunday! I also went into a shop named Gladrags to buy some more clothes. For only 3 galleons I managed to get another four colorful t-shirts shirts, two pairs of jeans, one chino colored and one black and a sweatshirt that was so warm and comfortable it had to have been charmed. After I bought all these I realized how trashed my shoes were. I spied a shop across the road called Clearwater Footwear and I went inside. It was a bright and vibrant shop, with loud music and young workers.

"Hi, can I get you anything?" asked a woman in her mid twenties.

"Do you stock any muggle brands?" I enquired.

"Yes we do. We ship in muggle shoes and add spells to them so they grow with your feet and don't break. We guarantee you at least 5 years out of them." She let out in one breath.

"Cool! I will just have a look around and see what I see then. Thank you." I replied, somewhat amused by her overly exited antics.

They didn't have most of my favorite skate shoes, but they did have some Adidas that my friend Ben used to skate in and swore they were the best he had ever worn so I grabbed them off the shelf to have a look. They were really comfortable and super stylish so I asked the assistant the price.

"2 galleons for those ones" she bubbled.

"They are so cheap" I replied. "Why is everything in this world so cheap?"

"Well after the war, the ministry got their act together and started researching transfiguration."

"Transfiguration? Isn't that where you turn something into something else?" I questioned.

"Yes. So anyway, the ministry found these spells that replicated objects but obviously that would make everything worthless and put nearly everyone out of a job so what they did was make an original copy which could be duplicated and every duplication of that couldn't again be multiplied. So what we do is spend 50 galleons on the duplicatable shoe and then every time somebody wants a pair, we just make another copy out of it when they can't do anything to themselves."

"Wow! That is so interesting. Could that cure hunger?" I asked.

"Unfortunately no. Food is one of the five exceptions to Gawmp's law of elemental transfiguration. That basically means food although food is multipliable you have to have a lot of it and it requires very strong magic."

"That is a shame. Anyway, thank you for these and thank you for teaching me about transfiguration, I can't wait to start learning about it when I get to Hogwarts." I said dejectedly.

"ok, bye now" she called as I walked out the door.

When I got back to the cauldron I began talking to Hannah.

"Can I help in the kitchens or something please. You're so hospitable and kind and I would like to be able to help wherever I can." I asked her.

"Oh it's ok Charlie. You needed a place to stay and some people to look after you and you are a real nice child after all."

"Thank you. I just feel like I am abusing a privilege by not doing anything to help out."

"I know how you feel. If you really want to, you can be a waiter for us when it is busier. You have good social skills and a keen brain and if it makes you feel better then it also helps us out. If you don't want to however, that is completely ok. I know it seems really weird that you have come into this world and been welcomed so quickly and everyone has been nice to you and you feel like there must be a catch. There is no catch. Witches and wizards help other witches and wizards regardless. We need unity to prevent another war and if the cost of that unity is helping a boy out for 10 weeks a year then it is a very reasonable cost. You are also actually just a really nice child and Frank looks up to you. He is such a shy kid and he really took a shine to you Charlie." Hannah explained warmly.

"I would love to be a waiter. Even though I understand all you said I would actually just like to do it for some experience, hell it might even be fun!" I replied.

"You aren't going to start tonight though Charlie, you definitely need your rest as I know how tired going through an upheaval makes you and you have certainly gone through an upheaval. You have adapted really well though. It is almost peculiar how easily you have accepted being a wizard and how quickly you have begun to learn about our world."

"I was hoping for something like this to explain my peculiarities so when that something came I just welcomed it with open arms and it has been one of the best experiences of my life and so thank you so much for helping me start my way."

"It's ok Charlie, enough of this deep talk though. It is making me tired. Come on, lets get to bed!" she laughed, walking up the stairs. I followed her and went down to my room, promptly falling asleep, just as I had done the last two nights. God being a wizard was exhausting!


	6. Frank

A/N: I know this chapter is really, really short. I just felt bad I hadn't updated in a while so I churned out a little filler chapter covering the time between the end of the last one (duh) and September the First. I would like to give a big thanks to Misspotter94 and Sophie Ashworth for reviewing. I really appreciate it 3. I have a question for you guys: What house do you think these guys should be placed in. I am also going to have them meet up with Scorpius and Rose on the train and have the five of them becoming friends. At the moment this is going to be Charlie/Alice, Rose/Scorp and Al/OC shippings but if you want others and can convince me to change them please do so! Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW. LOVE YOU ALL. WILLYS.

Counting down the days till September 1st, I spent my time expanding my knowledge of Diagon Alley and the wizarding world as well as helping out around the cauldron at nights with Alice. She had been around food preparation her whole life so she helped out the chefs in the kitchen while I kept busy taking the food to the patrons. Although there was a lot of normal food going around, the usual pastas and burgers, there was also some more obscure dishes that I ended up carrying around on my 6 day stint. In particular there was a piece of raw meat I gave to a wild, bearded man, which had a slightly green tinge. When I questioned Alice about it she laughed and merely told me that Warlocks loved their dragon meat. There was also a memorable experience when I gave a lady in a veil her dinner, which although it had a bowl over the food, I could feel something moving around on the plate. That time when I asked Alice she was completely clueless.

Frank and I had also begun to develop a sort of friendship. Although he was so shy on the outside, once you got to know him a bit more he opened up into a truly wicked character. We ended up spending a few afternoons skating around the courtyard, him teaching me about magic and me teaching him some tricks. The first time he did an ollie was the first time I really got to see him without the shell he encased himself in most of the time. The first time he landed an ollie was the first time I saw a true smile on his face and it changed his whole character. In a split second his whole face became lighter and for the rest of that afternoon he was glowing. His skating changed as well. At first he rode with a cautious curiosity and a deep interest but not much visible excitement but after that moment he was fast and lively. He skated with a spark. He also had a great sense of humor, after we were burned out from skating we would exchange some jokes and his were infinitely funnier than mine. I could hardly recognize him as the shy and quiet nine year old I had met three nights ago.

Hannah seemed to have noticed the change in Frank as well.

"Where did you take my son and who is the replacement?" she asked semi-jokingly that night.

"I honestly don't know. We have just been out in the courtyard riding around the last couple of nights and yesterday he just changed. He just became much happier and more talkative." I replied.

"Thank you so much Charlie. He has always been such a shy kid, choosing books over broomsticks and letting others talk for him. He has never had a real passion before and I am so glad he has found one. It makes him a lot more fun to be around.

On the night before Albus, Alice and I were due to depart to Hogwarts; the Longbottoms once again invited me up to their apartment for dinner. This night was a lot more formal and Hannah stepped up to the occasion, putting together a lavish meal which was an amazing send off for the four of us. The Potters were staying in the Leaky Cauldron overnight, so Al came into my room and we stayed up late talking about what tomorrow would hold for us, as students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	7. The Hogwarts Express

A/N: well hello there. Exams are over so hopfully I will be updating a bit quicker. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. I NEED FEEDBACK, GOOD BAD OR UGLY. PLEASUS CHRIST. In all seriousness, please review. I know every author asks for it BUT THERE IS A REASON WHY. Hope you enjoy :3

"Charlie! Get up man. We have got to get on the train in an hour." Al yelled in my ear, waking me up.

"Wassgoingon" I replied back, still yearning for my previous state.

"Alrighty then. This does it." He replied vigorously, as I heard the sound of running water for a few seconds. My curiosity had begun to get the better of me and I began to sit up. I was instantly drenched in cold water, thrown by a laughing Al.

"Holy shit dude! I was about to get up. No need for such drastic measures" I said, between teeth chattering with cold.

"You have five minutes to get down to breakfast. Hannah's orders." He replied, walking out of the room.

I rushed up and got into a hot shower, silently thanking magic for instantly providing me with hot water to wash away the icy residue of Al's wakeup call. By the time I made my way down, the Potter and Longbottom families were already assembled around the main table at the Cauldron. Hannah had set my place and put a butterbeer down next to my plate. After loading up on bacon, eggs, hash brown and tomatoes, Al, James, Alice and I set down to discuss the sorting.

"Well obviously Al is going into Slytherin, the slimy little snake. Charlie is pretty brave; he also has a good brain. Maybe Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? You could do all but Slytherin, Alice. You don't have one bit of nasty inside of you!" James laughed.

As James and Al continued to bicker about whether or not Al would end up in Slytherin I asked Alice about where she wanted to go.

"Which house do you think you will end up in?"

"Well dad was in Gryffindor and mum was in Hufflepuff so probably one of those two. I don't think I am smart enough for Ravenclaw or cunning enough for Slytherin" she laughed.

"What about you?"

"Gryffindor sounds pretty cool, but then again, so does Ravenclaw. I couldn't go for any of the others though. Harry said their common rooms were underground and I freak out big time unless I can see natural light so I imagine it would be quite hard to be in either of those. I am going to say Gryffindor though, sounds more exciting than Ravenclaw" I replied.

"Al's cousin Rose is exactly like you. She doesn't care if it is Gryffindor or Ravenclaw but it has to be one of those two. I don't think she would know what to do with herself if she wasn't in one of them. She is probably the smartest person you will ever meet, so that is where the Ravenclaw comes from but she is also an amazing quidditch player, completely fearless on the pitch, so she might be a Gryffindor."

"Does Al have a lot of cousins?" I enquired.

"Oh yes! You will meet them all soon though so I won't explain now." She answered.

We all began to clear up our dishes and do our final checks to make sure we had everything we needed for the year ahead. Breakfast had gone on longer than had planned so Hannah was rushing us out the door and into these incredibly spacious cars. Al, James, Alice, Frank and I all managed to fit into the back seats which everyone else seemed perfectly calm about but I was intrigued.

"Harry? This car is bigger on the outside than on the inside?" I asked.

"Shhhh. Don't tell Ginny but I have been doing some modification so that everyone can fit in it" he smiled wickedly.

As the car pulled away from the curb and I was pondering the extents of magic, I heard Hannah yelling from the doorway of the Cauldron.

"Have a great term guys! If you forgot anything, it's ok, I will owl it to you. Also Charlie, you are coming here for Christmas break. Goodbye!"

It took ten minutes or so for us to weave through London, driving to Kings Cross. When we got there, Harry and Ginny fetched a trolley for each of us and we stacked our trunks and owl cages on them, walking towards platform nine. When we got there Ginny leaned down me.

"Ok Charlie. See that barrier between platform and nine and ten?

When I nodded, she continued.

"Ok, what you have to do when you want to get onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters is walk through that barrier."

"What do you mean "walk through it" Ginny?"

"Just watch what James does" she laughed.

As she said that, James ran towards the barrier, holding his trolley in front of him. This is going to go so badly I thought as he rushed closer and closer. I flinched when he should have impacted but instead he and his trolley traveled right through the barrier. My jaw hit the floor with amazement.

"gnarly" I whispered, awestruck for the second time in half an hour at how cool magic was.

"Come on Charlie, your turn now." Harry said, looking eager to see how I reacted to having to run straight through a brick wall.

I grabbed my trolley and burst into a run. At the last second I put all my weight on my hands and lifted my feet of so I was floating along as I passed through the barrier. For a split second I was engulfed with complete blackness before I burst through the other side onto a platform with a scarlet steam engine dominating one side and hundreds of children and parents on the other. James was already talking to a bunch of his friends so I decided to wait for Alice to come through.

When the Longbottoms came through, Neville helped Alice and I get our luggage onto the train and find us a compartment before heading off to the teacher's compartment. We were looking out the window for Al when a blond boy came and asked if he could sit there. He seemed quite warm and happy, despite having a supercilious look and emotionless eyes.

"Hi, my name is Scorpius Malfoy, thanks for letting me sit in here. What are your names?" He asked cheerfully.

He seemed like a really cool person so I responded with just as much enthusiasm.

"I'm Charlie Jones, muggleborn. Are you from a wizarding family?" I inquired.

As soon as he opened his mouth to answer, a voice laced with malice interrupted him.

"Oh yes. Yes he is a wizard. A dark one at that." Alice's voice pierced the air with hostility. I was shocked. Alice was always so nice and calm. As James said, she didn't seem to have a mean bone in her body.

Scorpius looked back at us and observed our expressions, mine of pure shock and Alice's of hatred. Suddenly he found his voice:

"I am not my grandfather. He is a sick and twisted old man who forced my dad into doing evil things. As soon as the war ended, my father severed all ties with that animal and he died Azkaban two years later. My father never used dark magic again. He even snapped his wand and got a new one because of the things that one had been forced to do. My parents are good people and you have no right to insult them without even having met them. I will start again as I do not want to get off on the wrong foot with anyone at Hogwarts. My name is Scorpius Malfoy and it is a pleasure to meet both of you. Yes I am from a wizarding family. What houses do you guys want to be in?"

Alice reverted back to the girl that everybody knew and loved.

"I am so sorry. I have just read all the books and they told me all the horrible things the Malfoys did. I presumed that because you had the name you fit the stereotype. It was bigoted and prejudiced and wrong and I am so sorry."

"It's ok. It has happened my whole life. I have never made proper friends because kid's parents were too afraid to let their children near me. Mum and dad have been working tirelessly for the last 19 years to fix the wrongs and I won't be able to stand it if I have to go through another 7 years of my life as lonely as the last 11." He let out in one big breath.

"Well you don't have to worry about that, Scorpius" Alice and I said at the same time. The three of us then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

The conversation moved on to quidditch before Al and a brown headed girl arrived at the door to the carriage.

"Hey Al, Rose. This is Scorpius Malfoy, our new friend and before you ask, he is nothing like the other Malfoys and who are we to judge someone by their surname" Alice greeted the pair.

"Well dad did tell me to beat him on every test but he never said we couldn't be friends. I'm Rose Weasley and it's good to meet you Scorpius." The brown haired girl said.

"Well dad says what caused the last war was prejudice and hatred so if becoming your friend mean there is less prejudice and hatred then I'm all for it. My name is Al Potter" Al said softly.

Scorpius was grinning from ear to ear. I can't imagine what my life would have been like with no friends although on reflection, if I hadn't taken the chance to become a wizard I was well on my way to complete and utter loneliness.

The conversation once again turned back to quidditch and I tagged along in the chaos, every sentence adding to my anticipation for my first broomstick ride. As the clock struck twelve, the train began to pull away and the five of us, already on our way to becoming good friends, departed for the adventure of a lifetime.


	8. Sorting

**A/N: I am so sorry everyone. This has been so long since I updated and i have no excuse. I will just try to work on it but I can't promise. I really hope you stick with me but I need ideas for this story to continue so if i can't think of anything then it will be quite a long time till my next update. Thanks anyway :3**

Tom

"We really need to find you a quidditch team Charlie. You can't possibly be this enthusiastic about something without having something to focus it on." Laughed Rose, about an hour into the journey.

Rose was an interesting character. She was centered very much around academics but she was also crazy and excited at the same time, with an immense passion for quidditch. Scorpius was quite similar, he too loved both the sport and academics but he was a lot more subtle and quietly happy, instead of the vibrant character that was Rose.

"Yeah, I really should" I replied.

"Hey Al! Do you have that quidditch book you said you would lend me the first night we met, at Alice's house?" I asked.

"Yeah, I never leave the home without it. It's definitely one of my most treasured possessions, signed by the Irish world cup team." He answered excitedly, pulling a tatty old hardback from his bag and handing it across the compartment to me.

Scorpius looked awestruck, as if the book was a sacred monument.

"Do you know the Irish world cup team?" He asked Al, almost in a daze.

"Not the current one, the one that won the 1994 world cup are all good friends with mum and dad, Aiden Lynch was the person who taught me how to fly because mum was looking after Lily and dad was on an assignment with the aurors." He replied casually.

"No way! They were arguably the best team in history." Scorpius whispered back, completely overwhelmed.

"Um guys, sorry to snap you out of an epic moment, but what are aurors?" I asked, amused by Scorpius' antics.

"A dark wizard catcher" the other four replied at once.

"Oh cool. So is your dad an auror Al?" I replied.

"Yeah, so is Rose's. Alice, your dad used to be an auror as well, didn't he?"

"He was for a few years but after a while mum got sick and tired of him getting banged up so she forced him to take up his second hobby, plants." Alice answered his question.

The three of them began discussing stories about their dads' injuries and with an amused smirk I struck up a conversation with Scorpius.

"So what do your parents do for a living?" I asked him.

"Well dad works for the Ministry of Magic, in the department of magical sports and games while Mum is an architect, which she does from home so she can keep an eye on me. How about you?"

"I have never met my mum and dad. They left me when I was very young and until a week ago I was in the foster circuit." I replied.

"The foster what?" He said confused.

"Oh, it's for children whose parents have left them and have no other family. Basically another family looks after you for a certain amount of time, then you move to another family and do the same, then the same again until you can leave home and start life out on your own. It's a pretty shitty existence to be honest" I said glumly.

"Well you are here now, and you are staying at mine for the summers so there is no need to look so depressed Charlie!" interrupted Alice, who had obviously listened to my last statement.

Just as I was about to reply, James and a whole bunch of other people came to the door.

"Hey Charlie. We decided it was time for you to meet the whole family so here they all are. Right here are Victoire and Dominique, my mum's brother's children. Vic is our head girl so don't go breaking any rules around her or you're gonna be in the shit! Dom is more fun, she's going into first year with you guys, but she is a prankster like me and Freddy." James pointed at two of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. The older one had shoulder length, straight blond hair and greeted me with a friendly, yet solemn handshake. The younger one had wild, dirty blond hair, halfway down her back and a wicked grin about her.

"This is Freddy, my partner in crime" said James, grinning at a tall and gangly teenager with floppy red hair and pale skin.

"And this here is his sister Roxy, also in second year but a complete nerd. She is so intent on getting the best marks in our year, I am not sure she even pulled one prank." James said, acknowledging a girl who looked completely different to her brother. Whereas Fred was pale with red hair, Roxy was darker with black hair.

"Last and probably least, this is Molly, the geekiest child known to man. I swear she got no genes from her mother's side but completely takes after her father." James laughed obnoxiously at a weird looking girl who stood rigid and formal, with a strained smile on her face.

"Hi Molly, I'm Charlie Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you." I smiled, trying to make up for James' rudeness.

"Um hi. I need to get back to my homework now. Bye." She raced off, looking bewildered.

"She is so damn weird!" sneered James, as Molly retreated back down the corridor.

I couldn't help thinking that James was being a bit harsh. I mean, she was rather weird but his obnoxious demeanor can't have helped it?

"Jeez mate. You are a bit harsh on her." I told James.

"It's her fault she acts like that." He replied pompously.

"Ok ok. I'm not going to get involved in something that is none of my business, she just seems really lonely." I said, rather sadly.

"She isn't alone. She has a whole other bunch of geeky Ravenclaws to hang out with. Her little sister Lucy, who is coming at the same time as Lily and Frank are, is way more fun to be around." He said.

"Who are you anyway?" James asked Scorpius.

"I am Scorpius Malfoy and before you ask, I am not a death eater and nor is my father." he replied back, a slightly harsh look on his face.

"A slimy little Slytherin to be friends with Al then." James smirked maliciously.

"Fuck off James!" replied Al and Rose at the same time.

"Oh, a third snake. Hope you are joining me in Gryffindor Charlie, not with these loser Slytherins." Said James.

"You know James; you can be really cool when you aren't being a dickhead. Unfortunately, at the moment you are being a dickhead." I replied coolly.

A flash of hurt came across his face before he walked straight out, Fred following him with an apologetic look.

"I am so sorry, to all of you, for James' completely obnoxious behavior. The rest of us don't care where you are from or who you are Scorpius, as long as you are a good friend to Al and Rosie." Victoire said seriously.

"Thank you guys for standing up to me but it is really ok. I have been called way worse things in my time so a slimy little Slytherin doesn't really get the tears flowing." Laughed Scorpius.

Victoire smiled and the group of them walked away, apart from Dominique.

"Do you guys mind if I sit here? I know I should be with my older sister and all but they are all gossiping on about some random crap and I really don't care about Hogwarts gossip. I should be causing it, not getting bored to death by it!" she grinned devilishly.

"So where do you think you will go Dom?" Rose asked her.

"Probably Gryffindor, like dad. I don't really care enough about school to be a Ravenclaw and all the Hufflepuffs are boring. Slytherin is a no go, no matter what your brother says Al. No Potter or Weasley will ever end up in Slytherin."

"I can hope." Al replied weakly.

I liked Dom. She had a real spark about her. In the way her blond hair was a bit dirty and she managed to dress like a tomboy but still be stylish. It also helped that she was beautiful, funny and smart. Rose was very pretty as well but she seemed a lot more conservative and more of a bookish, nerdy smart as opposed to Dom's constant humor and razor sharp wit.

At midday, a lady with a trolley came around and asked us if we wanted food. The five of them began to buy a whole manner of things before they realized I had no idea what they were going on about.

"What do you want to get Charlie?" Dom asked me.

"May I please try some of everything." I grinned at the tea lady.

"Of course you can dear. That will be 1 galleon, 8 sickles and 13 knuts." She said smiling, as she put a few boxes and plates on the table.

I sat in awe at all the colorful boxes and delicious looking plates and realized that I couldn't ever get through this on my own.

"So. Does anyone want to help me finish this?" I asked.

"Bags!" Yelled Alice, Dom and Scorpius eagerly.

I picked up a pentagonal shaped box which I could feel writhing in my hands.

"What the hell are these!" I yelled anxiously as the other five burst into laughter.

"Those are chocolate frogs." Said Scorpius, in between fits of laughter at my sudden outburst.

"But why are they moving?" I replied, still confused.

"Well they are frogs. You can't expect them to just stand still all day can you." He answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"In the muggle world chocolate doesn't move Scorpius." I replied, shaking my head.

"Wow, that sounds so boring. I bet your photographs stay still or something as well!" Scorpius announced sarcastically.

"Um Scorpius, they do." I told him, bursting the bubble.

"Wow. Although muggles can do a lot of really cool stuff, they are far behind in some places."

"Yes they are, but you can't compete with skateboarding and muggles invented that so that is an automatic win for muggle technology!" I burst out eagerly.

"Anyway, what kind of mischief are we going to cause this year? We can't just be goody good Ravenclaws like Molly." Dom asked.

"Ok guys, you can't tell anybody this, but Dad gave me his invisibility cloak and a special map of Hogwarts in case James pranked us. Now, I am not suggesting we go out of our way to get him first but I am not taking any risks. If we get the slightest whiff of any scheme against us then I will not hesitate to destroy him." Al replied with a fire in his eyes.

"You know Al, keep acting like that and I could think you were a Slytherin!" Alice exclaimed.

"Hey, not all Slytherins are bad" said Scorpius defensively.

At that moment, Victoire came back and announced that we had to get our robes on as we would be arriving at the station soon.

We all piled out of the car and headed towards a booming voice.

"Firs' years over 'ere. Callin' all firs' years."

"Hagrid!" Al, Rose. Alice and Dom shouted as they dashed towards a very large man with a cheery smile.

"How are you four. 'Ope you don't cause as much trouble as ya parents did." He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh no. The trouble making is James' forte." Al answered hastily.

"I will believe ya For now atleas'. Now who are these guys?" He asked Scorpius and I.

"Hi, I am Charlie Jones" I answered him as I got pulled into a crushing handshake.

"And I am Scorpius Malfoy and before you ask, I am nothing at all like my father was when he was here." Scorpius told Hagrid solemnly."

"Alrighty, I will believe ya for now. I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of Keys 'ere at 'Ogwarts. Tis a pleasure ta meet all of ya, but righ' now we need all of ya inta ta boats. Please follow me."

As we scrambled down an embankment we heard Hagrid's voice telling us that there were no more than four to a boat. I got into the nearest one and was closely followed by Dom, Rose and Scorpius. Al and Alice got into the one next to ours with a small Irish sounding boy and a tall, dark skinned one.

At once the boats set off along the lake and as we rounded a corner, we got our first sight of Hogwarts in all its glory. Three towers piercing the sky, all brightly lit and reflected onto the black, velvety water like diamonds. We just sat there, absolutely spellbound by it's colossal beauty.

"Wow…" Scorpius managed to whisper after a minute.

"It really is something. Although we visit once a year for the memorial service and we came here for Teddy's graduation, I have never seen it lit up so beautifully." Rose agreed.|

After a few more minutes of silence, we pulled into a cave set in the stone which was bathed in a soft, golden light. Al and Alice jumped out of their boat to join us and we chatted animatedly about the sorting. There was a door on the side with instructions to go through so the six of us started to walk up the stairs amid the throng of the other first years. Neville was standing at the top of the staircase with a smile as we gathered round him.

"We are about to proceed with the sorting but before we do, I have some important information for you. You will probably all know about the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. After the sorting, the house that is picked for you will become your life. You will eat at your house table, sleep in your house dormitories, go to lessons with your house mates and earn house points for the prestigious house cup. Each house has honorable qualities and every house has produced superb wizards. No house is better than any other and if your families have any prejudices about which house you get sorted into, then they need to learn more about our History!" Neville said, glancing at Scorpius with the last statement.

"Now without further ado, let the sorting begin!" He ended with a flourish and the door in front of us opened. As we all walked through, in a single file line, the students who were sitting at the tables began to cheer and shout. At the very front of the hall, there lay a stool with a battered old hat on it. After everyone settled down, a rip in the hat opened and it burst into song.

_Here at Hogwarts, we believe that life is just a journey_

_You will learn, through twists and turns, and hopefully some fun_

_And through life's maze of discovery, your house be the one_

_All you have to do is try me on and then believe_

_you could be Slytherin, where ambition helps your mission_

_Or Ravenclaw, Where intellect will help you soar_

_Or maybe Hufflepuff, where being kind wont leave you behind_

_Or last but not least, Gryffindor, where bravery will reveal your roar._

_Try me on and you will see, just which path you are going to lead_

_But have no fear, just be aware, that all I do is help plant a see_d

A wild clapping burst from the student body and after it calmed down, Neville called the first name.

"Emma Anderson" was a small looking girl, who trembled up towards the stool and put the hat on her head.

"Hufflepuff for sure" a boy behind me whispered with a cocky certainty.

After about 20 seconds, the hat yelled out…

"Slytherin!"

The girl ran towards the Slytherin table with a worried look on her face despite the fact her table was clapping and smiling at her.

the next couple of names went by until the boy who was on Al and Alice's boat got called up.

"Peter Finnigan"

As Peter walked up to the stool, the hat barely touched his head before yelling Gryffindor.

After a few more students it was finally my turn.

"Charlie Jones" Professor Longbottom called out.

As I put the hat on, it began to converse with me.

"Hmmm, a very hard choice with you. You could never be a Slytherin, you're not cunning enough and you could never be a Hufflepuff because you are too feisty, although I do see some strong loyalty in there. It is really between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. You are definitely smart enough to be one of the eagles but you also have a lot of courage and bravery."

"I honestly don't know what I want" I told the hat, but even as I said that I remember Dom telling me she would never make a Ravenclaw.

"I think you do know what you want Charlie Jones, and I think it has something to do with that blond girl. Oh boy, we are going to have to watch out for you two mischief makers in the next seven years if she comes to Gryffindor!"

"So it's final?"

"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled out.

As I took it off and opened my eyes, there was applause from all the tables. It was probably only as much as everyone else got but it felt like more. Grinning, I ran over to the table and sat across from James.

"Glad you came over to the right side Charley, I can only hope Al does the same." James smirked.

"Look James, Al is pretty pissed off at you and he has a reason to be. You have never even met Scorpius but you were being a judgmental dickhead. At least give him a chance yeah? He isn't his parents and it's a dick move to judge him before you have even had a conversation with him ok?"

"Fair enough, I guess. I should really give him a chance but if he hurts Al or Rosie then I will not hesitate to hex his arms off." James replied.

"Deal."

By this time, it was Alice on the stool, getting ready to be sorted. After a few seconds she became the third first year Gryffindor.

"I was kind of expecting Hufflepuff, like mum" she told me as she sat down and waved at her dad, who was grinning broadly.

Scorpius was up next and after his name was called, the whole hall went into a deathly silence. As he pulled the hat onto his head, it barely brushed the white hairs that were sticking up before screaming out Gryffindor! The silence grew heavier for a moment before Alice and I began to cheer for him. The rest of Gryffindor house followed our lead and soon Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff joined in the applause. Only the Slytherin table remained silent throughout this. As he sat down next to me, he glared across at James who seemed to shrink in his seat.

"Look, I am really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have judged you without ever having met you. Truce?" James asked him.

"For Al and Rosie's sake, yes. Don't ever treat me like I am the same person as my father again though. Ok?" He replied through gritted teeth.

The person after him was the arrogant sounding boy who thought Emma would go into Hufflepuff. His name was Lance McLaggen. He swaggered up to the hat and put it on his head and after a few second it called out Slytherin. Not many people clapped for Lance but he didn't seem to care as he sat by himself at the end of the Slytherin table.

A few more people came through, including Iris Opal who went to Ravenclaw and Jeremy Perez who was a Hufflepuff. Finally it was Albus' turn to be sorted.

After all the hassle James had put Al through, he was put into Gryffindor after a mere second of it touching his head and he looked very smug as he went and sat beside Alice.

"You never told me that the sorting hat wanted to put you in Hufflepuff James. After all this crap about me going to Slytherin, you got Gryffindor by the skin of your teeth?" he laughed at his older brother who blushed but remained very quiet.

After a few more sortings, including a pair of triplets who went to Slytherin, it was time for Rose and Dom.

Dom's sorting was easy, a few seconds on her head and she was squeezed between Scorpius and I on the Gryffindor table, part of the crowd who had begun mocking James about his near-Hufflepuff experience.

Rose was a bit more difficult and was sat on the stool for five minutes while the hat made its decision. When the hat called out Gryffindor for the last time that year, the five of us went crazy with excitement. We were all in the same house, ready to take on Hogwarts together.


End file.
